H's and M's

Fri Jul 07, 2006 10:00 pm

Whats th differance between an H and M? They look the same to me, I saw an H 5 years ago and the owner had just bought it for an unbelievably low price of 900 dollars its overall condition looked real good, at that price I also would want one even thou I don't have the acerage to actually use a large tractor like that.........

Fri Jul 07, 2006 10:19 pm

The H and M have the same basic layout. The external dimensions are similar (so some mounted implements could be shared between them). But the M is a lot sturdier and more powerful. For comparison, the H gasoline engine is 152 ci and develops 27.9 belt hp. Same for M 248 and 39.2.

Fri Jul 07, 2006 10:21 pm

H = 25 hp and 3725 poubnds,
M = 35 hp and 4810 pounds.

Fri Jul 07, 2006 10:48 pm

Why not have one of each? My H and M are both wide front and don't get around as well as Cubs do, so they don't see much service.

My M is stored off site and needs help to get it running since it hasn't run for a year. I'll do it soon so I can do some bush hogging. It's name is Moose, and it's a brute!

Fri Jul 07, 2006 11:09 pm

Hey Jim, How much sturdier do you need?

But the M is a lot sturdier and more powerful

H Seems pretty sturdy to me LOLOLOL

Sat Jul 08, 2006 4:08 am

Thanks for the great info and pics, I am back to reality with just 2.2 acres I could n't possibly use a big M or H , so Ill stick with the Cubs ... Just wondering though, did my friend get a super deal on his H at 900 dollars or is that typical? The 900 dollar H has nice tires , very nice paint and complete decals, its real sharp looking, I don't know how well it runs for all I know it maybe siezed or run top shelf, bottom line is its a nice LOOKING tractor .....

Sat Jul 08, 2006 8:45 am

WKPoor wrote:Hey Jim, How much sturdier do you need?

I don't know. Try driving it back and forth on a rough field for a couple weeks and let us know.

Sat Jul 08, 2006 9:10 am

Jackman, in my area (eastern Mo.) 900 for a running average looking H would be aobut the normal price. One looking good ith good tres would be 200 to 300 more. In this area they are still just considered working farm tractors, not collectors items.

George, I owuld be willing to help you out with your problems of keeping the M ready to run. just bring it and the brush hog to my place. I will run it enough to keep battery charged, and fresh gas in it. will even change the oil on a regular basis, and all for a very reasonable fee.

Sat Jul 08, 2006 12:20 pm

Try driving it back and forth on a rough field for a couple weeks and let us know.

Well now thats a test I'll admitt I haven't put it to yet. But judging by the hole in the original drawbar someone else did quite a bit of testing. Comparison of the two in stock form no question the M would be sturdier. In todays world its not hard to make an H perform at least as good as a stock M as some have atested to after driving mine. In fact one said it would out perform his M.

A friend of mine some yrs ago was at a plow in with his M ( he had an M&W kit in it) pulling 3 bottoms all day. He said there was a kid there with an H who wanted to try the bigger plow. Hoss insisted the H was too small and underpowered. Yet the kid still insisted he be able to try. Now Hoss said he was mighty pround pulling that set in 3rd gear. He gave in and let the boy have a go at it. He told me to his amazement the H walked away with the 3 bottom in 4th like he had nothing behind him and continued on the rest of the day. Afterwards he told the boy-stock my ass!

Sun Jul 09, 2006 9:31 am

John *.?-!.* cub owner wrote:Jackman, in my area (eastern Mo.) 900 for a running average looking H would be aobut the normal price. One looking good ith good tres would be 200 to 300 more.

Thats amazes me that the big ones are more affordable tan the Cubs, I saw a totally beat and weathered Loboy yesterday asking price 2300 and I bet that unit didn't even run it was that bad....

There is a large corn farm hwere in my area that uses an H or M often for plowing and stuff its well maintained and diffenitly a part of his farming operation..

Sun Jul 09, 2006 7:14 pm

Parked side-by-side, you can tell that the M is a much physically larger tractor than an H. Width-wise, they're the same so they can use many of the same implements of course, but length and height... The M's just a bigger tractor.

You can tell an M from and H by the angle of the steering shaft that protrudes from the hood and runs to the steering wheel. An M's will be nearly flat horizontal. An H will have a pretty good angle to it.

By the time IH was done with the basic H design, a stock Farmall 350 (the H's final evolutionary step) easily outperformed a stock M.

Just a tidbit of fyi, but the H evolution continued on as the 6-cylinder 460. The M's lineage continued on well into the 1980s, with the 560, 656, 666, and 686.

There are also foreign offshoots of the H. I have a picture of an A-554, which is Austrian tractor, that is clearly based on the H design, but with a different hood on it.

Sun Jul 09, 2006 8:29 pm

Well....

We use an H and an M when we fire up my cousin's sawmill.......

The M is a little more worn than the H, so they're about evenly matched, power-wise anymore, but the size and weight of the M makes it handier for moving logs with the front end loader (bucket off, spikes on)..... So, the M drops logs, and the H runs the mill......My A can run the mill in a pinch, if we're not cutting anything too big.

It's a 40" blade, with replaceable carbide teeth, so we can take some pretty big logs in 2 passes.....even decent size ones in a single pass.....the H and M make pretty quick work of 12" hemlock logs....

My great grandfather put a 14 ft handle (hickory) on a small shovel for taking out the sawdust while the mill was running......a nice safety feature if ever you saw one......

One of these days, I'll make a cub-powered auger to take care of that problem for us.....I've certainly got the parts here.....LOL

Mostly, with my health the way it is, I just stack, and throw slabs.....that's good enough for me............

Thu Jul 13, 2006 2:43 pm

I PAID $1400.00 FOR A 1950 H AND BRUSH HOG.THAT WAS ONE HELL OF A DEAL I THINK.NOW I GOT NEIGHBORS WANTING IT TO GO TO FAIRS AND STUFF.IT WORKS HAD AND PLAYS HARD [HAY RIDES FOR THE KIDS ].LIKE TO HAVE A M BUT ITHINK I'D BE SLEEPING WITH IT.HAHAHAH!!!!KETCHAM

Fri Jul 28, 2006 12:06 am

Jim Becker wrote:

WKPoor wrote:Hey Jim, How much sturdier do you need?

I don't know. Try driving it back and forth on a rough field for a couple weeks and let us know.

What would that prove?......

The H tractors are all 50+ years old, and have made COUNTLESS trips across rough fields pulling plows, disks, manure spreaders, combines, etc, etc, etc, not to mention cultivating......so I agree......"How much sturdier do you need?"

I gave $1,500 for my completely original '51 H w/model 31 loader. So buying a restored H for $900 seems like a pretty good deal to me

Tue Aug 01, 2006 9:51 pm

Leadfoot wrote:

Jim Becker wrote:

WKPoor wrote:Hey Jim, How much sturdier do you need?

I don't know. Try driving it back and forth on a rough field for a couple weeks and let us know.

What would that prove?......

The H tractors are all 50+ years old, and have made COUNTLESS trips across rough fields pulling plows, disks, manure spreaders, combines, etc, etc, etc, not to mention cultivating......so I agree......"How much sturdier do you need?"